Archive for August, 2012
Can Chevy Volt help an American town? Meet Hamtramck, MI.
August 30th, 2012
Posted in About Chevy Volt
Dressing up the bowtie on our Chevy Volt, it had to be blue!
August 27th, 2012
Posted in The Volt Experience, Volt Modifications
Straight from the factory our new Chevy Volt was not well dressed, it really wasn’t! It came to us with bowties both front and back, but both of them were bicycle reflector gold. Not a good look and I know we can do better. So it was up to me…
Now as you see above we are now sporting a nice blue bowtie emblem on the Volt and I think it compliments the Blue Topaz Metallic color very nicely. Oh and there is a bonus too, the bowties are now reflective at night!
Here is a before and after comparison of the bowtie emblem on the tail end of the Volt. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course but I like it a lot better. Bit by bit we are getting closer to the well dressed Chevy Volt I’ve had in mind since we placed the order. All that’s left now is to add some tint to the glass, coming soon!
Here is a little sample of what the bowtie emblem looks like at night, lit up and reflective (normal next to illuminated). I like this touch on top of the color match, like icing on the cake!
If you are interested in just how I did this little modification, read on… Read more
First day trip with our new Chevy Volt, lots to like in this car!
August 20th, 2012
Posted in Getting Started with Volt, The Volt Experience
Three days into owning our new Chevy Volt and it’s time for a road trip. This will be an interesting jaunt which will give us a good sense of what this car can do on the road. It will be a (roughly) 200 mile round trip which means it will not be all on electric power.
On this day we planned to take a day trip to Cumberland Mountain State Park. For the trip we briefly pondered whether to take the new Volt or drive our second car, an older SUV. It was really not a hard choice at all since even when running on the gas generator for power, the Volt should give us double the fuel mileage of the SUV.
Decision made, we loaded up four of us in the Volt and headed out. This would be our first trip to this destination so first order of business was to get some directions. One simple touch of the OnStar button was all it took. In a moment we had an OnStar representative asking how she could be of help. We told her where we wanted to go and in a matter of seconds we were hearing first navigation direction over the car stereo while the instructions were also shown on the 7″ screen in the center console stack. Easy peasy!
So off we went and just as expected we made the first part of our trip on electric power alone. No gas (yet). Read more
Our 2013 Chevy Volt has arrived and it is gorgeous!
August 18th, 2012
Posted in Getting Started with Volt, The Volt Experience
It’s here, it’s here, it’s here! After more than two months waiting for the order to be filled our 2013 Chevy Volt has arrived and we love it. The guys at West Chevrolet were all ooooing and ahhhhing over the color. There are not as many being produced in the Blue Topaz Metallic as in the other available colors. I think it looks great too but I am a bit biased.
Jason at West Chevrolet has taken very good care of us throughout the whole process from order to delivery. Great communication and attention to details. I had asked for a number of somewhat picky points to be addressed and he didn’t miss a beat. One request was that they refrain from applying a dealer sticker to the back end of our new car. That’s always been a pet peeve of mine, you spend ten’s of thousand’s of dollars on a brand new vehicle and the dealer assumes you’ll be a rolling advertisement for them to boot? Sorry but no. Credit where credit is due, West Chevrolet was fine with that request and didn’t bat an eye. In Tennessee there are no front end license plates so I asked that they leave the front plate mount off. First car I have been able to do that with in a long, long time!
Last but not least, I asked them to mount some custom aftermarket wheels on the car before we would even see it for delivery. They did and I think the wheels look great! Read more
Finally! There is a brand new Chevy Volt sitting in my garage!
August 11th, 2012
Posted in The Volt Experience
Ok, that’s not really our new Chevy Volt, not the one I will be able to sit in and drive anyway. It is brand new but it’s only a diecast model. I’ll admit I am getting a bit antsy waiting for our car to be delivered. We placed the order in early June and it’s been roughly 9 weeks waiting so far.
In the time that’s passed I’ve got the garage all ready for our new car. The electric is ready for charging, the floor is clean and all is in order. We just need a car now.
Getting the garage ready for the Volt wasn’t a difficult task but it did take a bit more than simply sweeping the floor. Experienced Volt owners over at GM-Volt.com suggested it’s best to replace the outlet we will use for charging. Nothing special, just a standard 110 volt outlet but a new and good quality outlet will assure an efficient connection between the car charger and the power source. Additionally I learned it’s best to charge the Volt from an electrical circuit which is not shared by other items that take a strong draw, such as a spare refrigerator or freezer that might be in the garage. No problem for us.
The good news is that our dealer tells us the car has reached Nashville, waiting for a full transport truck load to head our way! It should be here any day now!